Susan Donovan

Susan Donovan, a Chicago CPA and social justice activist who blended her professional accounting skills with her activism, died on May 21, 2026. She was 79 years old. In her early days, Sue told friends that she became a radical while studying the U.S. tax system. And she remained a social justice activist who cared about humanity and wanted to see a better world throughout her years working for Chicago accounting and law firms. Sue was a child of the Midwest, the second of six children of Mavis and Clayton Becker. Her ancestors began arriving in Iowa from Germany and Ireland at the time of the American Civil War. Born in 1946, she was raised in a small town, in a close community where she played organ at the Catholic church and her father ran The Spot, the family’s café on Main Street. It didn’t survive the economic upheaval of the first wave of industrial agriculture in the 1950’s. Searching for a new beginning, the family moved to Seattle when Sue was 13 years old. The big city was a shock, and life-changing. In Seattle, all the children could go to college, and Sue did. She attended the University of Washington, and became a rare woman enrolled in business school and majoring in accounting with a minor in history. She worked her way through school and at graduation was one of very few women to receive a degree in accounting. All the while she made time to protest the Vietnam War and founded the Seattle Women’s Divorce Cooperative. (She represented herself in her own divorce from an early marriage.) That rare combination of business acumen and radical activism shaped the rest of her life. In 1980 Sue settled permanently in Chicago. She had no trouble finding CPA positions at accounting and law firms, spending much of her career at Dolan Law Offices. It was at Dolan Law that Sue dedicated her energy to the most important case of her personal life. Her brother John Becker, a farmer in eastern Washington state, was killed in a horrific accident in his hay baler, leaving behind a widow and two young children. Despite expert opinion, Sue was convinced John was not at fault and worked tirelessly with Dolan lawyers to prove the manufacturer was to blame. Eventually the lawyers succeeded in taking the case to the District Court in Seattle. Just as the trial was set to begin, the maker of the baler settled out of court with John’s widow rather than risk losing at trial. Sue’s persistence and moral courage insured that John’s children would have funds for college. It was through her activism that Sue met Mike Holman, who shared her belief in a better world. Mike, who became the assistant to the CEO of a non-profit Federally Qualified Health Center system serving underserved communities, and Sue were life partners for many years. They became inseparable. Sue left her mark wherever she landed, with fearlessness in expressing views whether they were popular or not, determined loyalty to family, friends and humanity, a sharp sense of humor, and a generous heart when she saw people in need. Her loving kindness has left indelible traces in all of us who had the honor of sharing our lives with her. Sue is survived by Mike, her sisters Janice Becker and Elizabeth Becker, three nieces and three nephews. Donations in her name may be made to: https://spot.fund/SusanLegacy or the Self-Help Home (773) 271-0300, https://selfhelphome.org/. The family will donate any funds raised to the causes that were dear to Sue. Services are being planned, please contact Inclusive Funeral Care for details: 773-318-1305 or Info@InclusiveFuneralCare.com.

Susan Donovan

October 30, 1946 - May 21, 2026